The Long Road Home
by BuddhandBrittana
Summary: Brittana!Family. When San and Britt realize that the big city is having an adverse effect on their children, the couple decides to pack their bags and move back home to Lima. However, the family soon realizes that being an nontraditional family in small town Ohio comes with it's own complications. Can San & Britt bring their family closer together or will they be torn inside out?
1. Chapter 1

**The Long Road Home**

Santana Pierce sat at her desk going over her case files for the week, while simultaneously trying to figure out what to make for dinner. She pulled off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose trying to will away her headache. The dull lights of her office and the fact that she had stared at a computer screen, sending rapid emails back and forth between clients all day didn't help her condition. Taking out her phone she sent a quick text to her darling wife.

**Hey babe, what do you feel like for dinner? I'm thinking Chinese stir fry sounds great.**

_Max wont eat the broccoli and Remi's having pizza after football practice with his friends. _

**So we'll put cheese on it and tell him it's candy. He'll never know the difference. That's what we did with the other two. **

Santana leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Lately she had spent a lot of time thinking about Lima and how easy things use to be there. It had been years since they had last gone home to visit and she couldn't help wondering if it was just the way she remembered it. Her parent always made a point of visiting their grand-babies once a year, but it made Santana sad they didn't have a stronger connection. Her kids hardly knew Brittany's mother or their aunt, with the exception of holiday cards. Traveling to New York was a little too expensive for the elder woman to make alone on her retirement.

_If you want to handle the fight that comes with it, then I'm good with stir fry. _

**I'll deal with Max. What about her Royal Highness?**

_Hopelyn can eat or go to bed as far as I'm concerned. Did I tell you about what happened this morning?_

**Do I even want to know?**

Santana grimaced. Hopelyn was their middle child and God's way of paying Santana back for being such a rotten teenager.

Since the sweet age of thirteen Hope had been nothing but a handful and growing progressively worse. Santana knew being a teen girl was hard, hell the only way she had made it through was with Glee Club and Brittany holding her hand every step of the way, but this was getting out of her league. It saddened her to know that Hopelyn wasn't surrounded by the same safe feeling of family every day at school. As a matter of fact the young girl had a habit hanging out with _all_ the wrong kids, who had no interest in being a real friends to her.

_She came down stairs in the trashiest outfit I've ever seen, San. I know I wore my fair share of risky clothing in high school, but this isn't the same. She looked like she was ready to walk the streets. I told her to go change and she threw a fit and screamed at me in front of her brothers. You know I've had a hard time getting Max to listen lately and I think he's been paying attention to her. _

Santana gave a deep angry sigh. Brittany was an amazing parent and such a loving mother, she didn't deserve half the things Hopelyn did or said. She couldn't count the times she had held Brittany late at night after everyone had gone to sleep, telling her that it was just a phase and that Hopelyn did love her even though it was hard to see.

**I'll have a word with her tonight when I get home from work. Did you take her phone away?**

_I did, but I don't know what good it's going to do. I'm at a loss Santana and I have no idea how to fix this. I'm so worried what will happen to her if she gets caught up with the wrong people. She's only fifteen._

**It's okay B. We'll figure something out. I'm not going to let anything happen to our little girl, even if I have to send her to one of those 'jail for a day' programs.**

_We're not sending our daughter to jail, Santana._

**I know. She'd probably come back with more street smarts and a prison tat. **

_Not funny._

**It's a little funny.**

Santana set her phone aside and began sorting through her case file. She knew Brittany probably had another dance class right after lunch, so it was best to leave her be. Besides, she had a mountain of paper work to dig through before she could even think about dinner.

It was nearly one in the afternoon when Santana's phone rang.

"Santana Pierce, Divorce Attorney, who would you like me destroy?" She smirked at her cleaver little quip.

"Oh. Hello Mrs. Underwood. " Santana hated talking to school officials. It reminded her of all the times she had been called to Mr. Figgin's office. "I—of course I can come. I'll be there as soon as I can. Thank you for the call. " Santana was fuming before she could hit the end call button.

This was the second time in a month she had been called to Saint Mathew's Private School because of Hopelyn's behavior and added to the way she had treated Brittany this morning, Santana had just about enough.

Snatching up her bag Santana threw her phone inside and barked orders at her secretary to hold all calls for the afternoon. She'd be a solid day behind on everything, but that didn't matter. Her children came first as far as she was concerned.

Twenty minutes later Santana pulled into the school's small parking lot in Downtown Manhattan. Her fingers twitched for a cigarette even though it was a habit she promised Brittany she would kick years ago. Instead, she popped a small piece of gum in her mouth and chewed it until she felt more relaxed and in control.

She wondered if her own mother had felt the same kind of stress, she felt going in to meet Mrs. Underwood, when Santana was young. Although Hope was the one causing trouble, Santana couldn't help, but feel like the one who was about to get a detention. Brittany and Santana had picked Saint Mathew's hoping that a more disciplined environment would help their kids avoid some of the pit falls they had fallen into during high school. It didn't hurt that the school was progressive in their views, seeing as they were one of a handful of same-sex families in attendance.

Santana walked down the marble hallway until she came across a familiar tuft of light blonde hair resting in a pair of hands with black painted nails. Hopelyn glanced up at her mother, who was pissed beyond reason. Her blue eyes gleamed the way that Brittany's did, telling everything without speaking a word. She felt bad. Whatever went down, Hopelyn most certainly didn't mean for it to happen.

"Mami – I sorr-" her daughter said running her fingers back through her hair. She wore dark eye liner and at least a dozen bracelets around each of her wrists.

"Save it. You and I will talk later. " Santana held open the door and motioned for her daughter to go take a seat. She followed behind with an irritated scowl on her face.

"Hello Santana, I'm happy you came. I hope you weren't too busy this afternoon. "Mrs. Underwood said in a distinctly unpleasant voice.

"I'm never to busy to come, thank you for calling." Santana hated pleasantries, they made her feel old, but it all came with pretending to be a responsible adult.

"Hopelyn and another student were involved in a physical altercation this afternoon. Neither girl would say what the fight was about or who threw the first punch. As you are well aware our school has a zero tolerance policy, which assures parents that their children are learning in a space that feels safe. Unfortunately I can't look the other way on a second offense. Every student has the right to learn in a safe environment. I have no choice, but to suspend her for three weeks." Mrs. Underwood folded her hands and leaned across the desk.

Santana felt that the punishment was more then reasonable, but neither she nor Brittany could afford to take three weeks off from work to keep an eye on their daughter. This wasn't Lima, it was New York and there was no such thing as time off in the city that never sleeps.

"Mrs. Underwood, while I do not condone my child's behavior in the slightest, as a parent I'm concerned for her education. Three weeks will put her drastically behind the other students and I can't in good faith allow that. Is there any alternative? Hopelyn will take whatever you're willing to offer happily and without complaint. " Santana asked sitting up a little straighter using her court room voice.

"Mrs. Pierce, the other student has already been suspended for three weeks. I can't simply take it easy on your daughter. " The principle raised a scrutinizing eyebrow which made Santana feel as though she were about to be suspended too.

"How about she remains out of school for two weeks, on the third week she serves in school suspension, and performs a community service which she'll write a paper on."

"What! No, Mami. That is so much worse!" Hope wihned, but returned to being silent when her mother shot her a warning glare.

"Very well. I think that sounds both reasonable and constructive. I will give the other student the same option. I must warn you, however. One more slip up like this and I will have no choice, but to expel Hopelyn all together."

"I understand completely, Mrs. Underwood. I assure you this wont be happening again. Thank you for your time and concern. " Santana stood and shook the principle's hand before taking her daughter by the arm and ushering her out the office door.

"Ow! Mami, let go you're hurting me." Hope complained trying to tug her arm away from her mother, but Santana's grip held firm.

"Fighting Mija! Fighting! Just what the hell were you thinking." She hissed under her breath ducking into an empty classroom to have a private conversation with her daughter. "It's bad enough I hear from your mother that you were being down right awful to her this morning, but now you're fighting with the other girls in school? Did I not teach you to be better than that?"

When Hopelyn jerked away and rolled her eyes, Santana thought she might blow her top, but she held it together.

"Mom was over reacting. I wasn't even dressed that badly. I don't know what you can't just let me wear what I want to school. It's my body. Not to mention you're such a hypocrite. Aunt Rachel told me all about how you use to go 'All Lima Heights" on people in high school. That girl was being a bitch to me so I took care of it. When are you going to stop trying to control my life and realize that I can take care of myself." Hope snapped back at her mother with the same biting force she had at that age.

Santana clenched her fists making a mental note to chew Rachel out later. She never brought Snixx out to play when it came to her children, however she thought it best in this case to startle the little girl to make it clear just how much trouble she was really in. Santana bared down with sharp eye, making sure to stand well within her daughter's personal space.

"First of all it might be your body, but guess who owns ever single golden strand on that head of yours-your mother and I do. We brought you into this world and until you turn eighteen we will decide what you wear, where you go, and who you talk to. If you ever speak to your mother again the way you did this morning, you will be wearing the same exact ugly cat sweaters your aunt Rachel wore to school every single damn day—ask her about that. Don't think for a moment that you are too old for me to pull you over my lap and spank you because you will be sorely mistaken. Do I make myself perfectly clear Hopelyn Marie Pierce!"

"I could just get emancipated and then I wouldn't have to live with either of you" The teen shot back fighting hot angry tears of frustration. It hurt Santana's heart to hear, but she wasn't about to cave just yet.

"Oh good luck with that baby girl. To do that you need to ether be married, prove you can financially support yourself, join the military, or provide an educational degree. None of which you have. In case you've forgotten, your Mami is a damn good lawyer and you come from a house hold that loves you very much, even when you're acting like a brat. Now I suggest you cut the attitude unless you want to find yourself in even deeper trouble."

Hopelyn folded her arms and refused to speak any further. Santana felt as though she had won a small victory even though the war was far from over.

"Go get in the car while I get your brother. " Santana grunted passing her daughter the keys.

Her stomach twinged when it occurred to her that Hopelyn could very well try to steal the car, but then she remembered she had Lojack. The small blonde stormed out of the empty classroom and off down the hall leaving her mother feeling equally frustrated. How was it possible to love someone so much, but still want to throttle them every ten minutes.

Santana walked around the corner and up a flight of stairs to where the younger grades had their classrooms. Lightly she knocked on the wood door and waited for someone to answer. She didn't have to wait long. A pretty looking young woman with bright orange-red hair opened the door with a warm smile.

"Mrs. Pierce, what brings you by so early today?" Mrs. Reagan asked with a pleasant smile.

Santana returned the grin though she didn't much feel like smiling. Her son's first grade teacher always made her feel a little uncomfortable with how friendly she was. Santana knew better than to trust people who were too nice.

"I'm picking up Hope early today, so I thought I'd come grab Max too."

"Ah, well it's rest time so he's over there by his desk. Earlier he was talking to an imaginary friend instead of interacting with the other children. It seems a little excessive, but I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. He's also been having a hard time with his reading. Maybe practicing more at home will help. " the teacher said pointing over to where Max sat with his head down on the desk. "He's such a sweet heart. Today was art day. He drew a picture of all of you together."

Santana felt some of the tension ease from her shoulders when she saw her baby's messy brown hair and sleepy face pressed against his desk napping quietly. Of all her children Max was the most like Brittany, even though Santana was the one to give birth to him. She slipped by the other students, some who were only pretending to be asleep, and crouched down next to her baby boy. Softly she rubbed his back.

"Hey mi amor. It's time to wake up." She cooed lightly running her fingers through the little boy's hair. His eyes flickered awake.

"Mami?" He grumbled sleepily, but reached out to put his arms around her neck. She kissed his cheek and lifted him up into the air as he rubbed his eyes awake. "What's going on? Why are you at my school?"

"Can't your Mami miss her baby?" She whispered earning another hug. Miss. Reagan held out Max's ninja turtle backpack and painting of their family for Santana to take.

"Have a good day Max. I'll see you tomorrow." The woman called down the hall as Santana carried him back to the car.

"Did you have a good day at school?" Santana asked as she carefully stepped down the stairs in her heals. She knew that she was less likely to yell at Hope more if Max was hanging around. He saw the world the same way Brittany had when she was a little girl and Santana didn't dare take that magic away from him.

"I played with Mr. Red Patches, painted a picture of you and mommy and sister and Remi, then teacher read us a book, we had lunch, went outside to play, and now you're here." He said with a simple shrug.

"Oh? How is Mr. Red Patches? Last time you mentioned him, he wasn't feeling good. Is he better now?" Santana asked setting Max down to open the door to the parking lot, where Hope sat brooding in her Lexus. Mr. Red Patches was a fat cat that shockingly fit the description of long deceased Lord Tubbington, who wore a pair of overalls with two red patches on the knee, according to the little boy.

"No, he's all better now." The little boy said taking his mother's hand as they crossed the parking lot.

Santana opened the door to blaring metal music blasting out her speakers as she helped Max into his safety chair.

"Turn it down now, Hopelyn." Santana barked over the ear-splitting noise. Reluctantly the girl did as she was told.

The city traffic made the drive home unbearably long. However, instead of focusing on Hopelyn's brooding Santana put on family friendly radio and listened to max try to sing along in the back seat. She never realized how much she missed the little silly things her kids did when they were small and cute. She felt horrible that out of all her kids, she had spent the least time with Max. By the time the little boy had arrived both Brittany and Santana' careers had just taken off. With two older children there was no one to play with the little boy. He spent most of his time in daycare.

The more she thought about it the worse she felt as a parent. Hopelyn hated them, Remi was hardly ever home, and Max never got the attention he deserved. _'Things were never this bad in Lima. She I fought with my parents, but at least I saw them and knew they cared.'_ Santana thought as she pulled into the driveway.

"Hope you can spend the night in your room. No phone. No music. No computer. No nothing. Consider yourself officially on house arrest. If you need something to do read a book or make a puzzle. You can come down for dinner and that's it." Santana ordered opening the front door to their home.

Hopelyn rolled her eyes, stomped up every last stair, and slammed her door so hard the house shook.

"Come on baby, do you want a snack?" Santana asked Max setting her keys on the rack and shaking her hair out of it's styled pony.

"Yea! Can I have go-gurt!"Max kicked off his shoes and took off running toward the kitchen. Santana did the same and followed her son, happy to be rid of her heals.

"Let's have a healthier snack okay?" Santana said pulling a few apples out of the fridge a long with dipping caramel. "Baby, how would feel about going to see Tus Abuelitos?"

"Are they here! I wanna see Abuelo!" Max said bouncing on one of the kitchen stools.

"No baby, I mean we would go to their house for a change. What if instead of going to day care after school, you went to your Abuelos or your grandma's house? Would you like that?" Santana pushed a plate of diced apples toward Max who hungrily gobbled them up.

"That would be fun and I think it would be more fun because I miss them." He said dripping caramel on the kitchen counter. " Can Mr. Red Patches come too?"

"I would never make you go anywhere without Mr. Red Patches sweetie. Why don't you go get your homework, so we can sit down and work on it together. If we get it all done then you, me, and mommy can watch a movie together tonight after dinner." Santana said taking a seat next to him.

"What about sister and brother?" Max asked earnestly.

"Brother has football practice and Hopelyn is in big trouble." the little boy make a funny 'O' shape with his mouth before munching on another apple piece. "Go get your bag baby."

Max hopped off the stool and ran down the hallway back to the front door where his backpack sat.

_**Thump.**_

"Ow watch it !" grunted a strange voice that didn't belong to any of Santana's children.

"Max baby?" Santana called making her way quickly back to the front door.

A dark-haired young girl Santana had never seen before opened the front door to leave, while Max sat on the floor after clearly running into her.

"Hold it." She barked. The young girl froze for a moment before first looking at Santana and then up the stairs where Remi stood looking very guilty.

"Who are you and why are you in my house -and why aren't you at school?" Santana growled turning to look at her eldest.

"It was a half day and we were just studying." Remi said in a shaky voice. Unlike Hopelyn and Max, Remi attended high school closer to home due to his talent for football.

"Really. So if I call the school right now they're going to tell me the same thing? Why were you studying upstairs when you know girls aren't allowed in your room." Santana narrowed her eyes. Did her children honestly think she was that stupid? At least she was cleaver when she lied to her parents. This was just weak.

"Yea. It's no big deal, so no need to flip out." added the girl with a snotty attitude.

Santana had nearly forgotten she was there and she had certainly had her fill of bratty teenage girls for the day.

"Excuse me? I believe I was talking to my son, but since you seem to have so much to say why don't you start by telling me your name." Santana rounded on the girl, first helping Max to his feet and then pushing the front door close so she couldn't run out of the house.

"It's Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam. We didn't do anything wrong. I don't know why you're getting so angry." the teen scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Santana could feel her son's anxiety raise._ 'Well at least someone knows who he's dealing with' _she thought. Santana had never taken sass from anyone, not when she was sixteen and certainly not now.

"Well Samantha, you may call me Mrs. Pierce or Ma'am when addressing me. In this house there are rules and when those rules are broken I get angry. It's called being a parent. Now you can go have a seat in the living room while I call your parents and let them know where to come pick you up. " Santana said in a sickening sweet voice that was down right terrifying. Her eyes darted up to the nervous looking seventeen year old sitting on the steps.

"You can stay in your room until your mother gets home. We'll deal with you then. I'll be calling your coach to let him know why you're missing practice." She barked. The boy got up and jogged back to his room with his head hung low.

* * *

Brittany arrived home at five as usual, looking tired, but just as beautiful as ever. Her hair was in a tight bun and she wore simple yoga pants, tank top, and a knitted jacket. Setting down her bag she made her way to the kitchen where Max sat doing his homework while Santana cooked stir fry on the wok.

"You're home early. Did you have a bad day at work or something?" She mused wrapping her arms around her wife's waist from behind and giving her a tender kiss hello. Santana grinned and gave her an equally sweet few pecks back. There was not a moment that passed that Santana wasn't absolutely sure she had made the right choice by marrying Brittany Pierce.

"Work was a cake walk compared to this afternoon." Santana scoffed, but held up a spoon of stir fry for Brittany to taste.

"Mommy!" Max yelled from the table. His arms were folded over his chest in an angry pout because she had yet to say hello to him.

Brittany beamed at the little boy before rushing over and pulling him up out of his chair, spinning around a few times

"My baby! How did I not see you there? I missed you so much. Let me give you kisses." She fawned peppering his face with kisses everywhere she could reach until the little boy was giggling and trying to get away.

"How was school? I want to hear all about it" She crouched down and watched him closely giving every single bit of her attention as though his words could change the very fabric of reality.

"Well, we had art today. Mr. Red Patches helped me draw a picture of everyone, then mami came and picked us up. Sister was in trouble. We got home and then brother got in trouble. Mami says that if I get my homework done then the three of us can watch a movie because I'm the only good kid you have." Max said looking up at her with bright brown eyes.

"Well you're Mama is right because she's the smartest most beautiful woman ever and she knows everything, but lets not tell your brother and sister that okay?" She winked and kissed his forehead before skipping over to where Santana stood still cooking.

"Something tells me we're going to need these." She pulled two wine glasses down from the cupboard and filled them, passing one to Santana. "So why are both my oldest kids sitting quietly in their rooms right now?"

"I got a phone call from Ms. Underwood this afternoon asking me to come pick Hopelyn up for fighting with another student." Santana ran her hand through her hair and stirred the wok before taking a sip of wine.

"You're joking. Again? Please tell me she's not expelled." Brittany asked folding her arms over her chest.

"No, just suspended. I managed to convince the principle to only give her two weeks, with the third being in-school. She agreed as long as Hope does an out-reach and writes a paper about it."

Brittany closed her eyes. It was annoying, but not completely unexpected from the rambunctious teen.

"Wonderful. What did Remi do?"

"Our beautiful baby boy decided he was going to skip school today and bring a girl back to his room, not knowing that I picked both Hope and Max up early. I caught _Samantha_ trying to sneak out the front door. I sent him to his room for the night and had a lovely chat with her parents when they came to pick her up, which ended with me being the horrible parent for not teaching my son better." Santana grunted bitterly as Brittany covered her mouth in surprise.

"Oh god. They weren't-I mean do you think they were..." she asked horror-struck. None of her babies were old enough to be having sex. They were too young. How did Remi even know what sex was?

"I don't even want to try to think about it." Santana confessed as her wife took a large gulp of wine. "But_ 'The Talk'_ is totally on you. "

"San, how did we even get here?" Brittany asked under her breath so Max couldn't hear. " I don't even know where to start to fix this."

"Baby, can I be honest, I think a part of it is living here. Our dream was always to get out of Lima and move to New York, which we did, but I feel like that's what's starting to pull us apart. Obviously we haven't been paying close enough attention to what's going on in their lives and I feel like it's only going to get worse. " Santana began dishing out the food onto plates for everyone.

"Max, run upstairs. Tell Remi and Hope dinner is ready." Brittany said before turning back to Santana. "I think so too, but this is where our life is. It's not like we can just pack up everything and leave. Where would we even move to? There are the same troubles in every city."

"What if we moved back to Lima." Santana held up her hand before Brittany could protest. " I know we said we wouldn't go back, but the more I think about it the more it feels right. Small town life may not be perfect, but at least it's something we understand. I don't feel right sitting here not knowing what's going on with our kids. Plus if we moved back to Lima you could still have your dance studio and I could still practice law."

Brittany stood quiet for a long moment thinking over Santana's words. Every bit she spoke held a piece of truth that she couldn't deny. Lima, Ohio had raised them to become the women they were and she was confident it could do the same for her children.

"Babe, I love you so much and if this is what you think is best for our family then I will support you one hundred percent all the way. That being said I just want to point out that Ohio isn't as progressive as New York. We faced trouble when we were kids and I'm sure we're bound to face trouble again." Brittany warned.

"I thought of that, but this is now, not then. I'm sure people have moved forward at least a little. Besides, we're adults capable of making our own choices and if anyone doesn't like it I'll take them to court." Santana reached out and pulled Brittany in by the hips for a sweet kiss.

Max, Hopelyn, and Remi all filed into the kitchen setting the table while their parents adored one another. None of the children said anything because it was a sight they glimpsed everyday. Brittany had always insisted on not hiding what true love looked like in front of the kids even though it made Santana squirm a little. By the time each one of the kids had turned five , their mothers kissing didn't faze them in the least.

Santana set the plates of food down for each person while Remi poured milk and Hopelyn set out the silverware. Nether child dared look their mothers in the eye.

Dinner went by quietly. Max was the only one who spoke and only to offer his broccoli to Mr. Red Patches. Santana thought over her plan several times before finally drumming up the nerve to make it final.

"You're mother and I have both come to an agreement on the issue of your behavior and this family as a whole. Frankly we're not happy with the way things have been going for sometime." Santana said when everyone had finished eating. "We realize that it's partly our own fault for not being around as much as we should, but you're all still young and it's not too late to correct that misstep on our part. Starting first thing tomorrow morning I will be working from home more and your mom will be cutting back her hours."

The kids sat quietly looking around at one another, uncertain of what to say.

"We've also decided that the city is not having a positive influence on this family, which is why we're moving to Ohio at the end of next month."

"What!"

"Are you crazy?"

"What about my girlfriend?"

"What about my friends?"

"Where's Hi-Oh"

"What about football?"

The table erupted into shouts of angry protests by the two oldest children. Finally Brittany had enough, using her index fingers she blew a loud sharp whistle.

"Enough. This is not up for debate. We are moving to Lima, end of conversation. Remi, you had straight A's last year and now they're all C's and D's. Hopelyn, you're on the brink of being expelled from school all together. We love you all very much and we're not going to sit here and watch you throw your lives away by acting out. Throw a fit, hate us, whatever, but this is the way it's going to be from now on." Brittany said though it hurt to do so.

"I can't believe you would do this to us." The young blonde said standing up from her seat and storming out of the room to hide her tears, shortly followed by Remi who slammed his door.

"Mommy?" Max spoke up once the tension had died down a little.

"Yes baby?" Brittany answered looking over at her son's big watery eyes.

"Can I have dessert?"

Santana couldn't help but chuckle. It was the only thing she could do, anything else and she might have cried.

"Sure thing kiddo. Are you going to share with Mr. Red Patches?" Brittany asked reaching over and sliding the little boy's chair closer to her own so that she could pull him on to her lap. Max nodded vigorously.

"How about you and Patches run upstairs, put your jammies on, and mommy and I will get out the ice cream and pick a Disney movie to watch. Sound good?" Brittany placed a few kisses on Max's cheek before letting him down to got upstairs.

Reaching over she took Santana's hand and gave it a squeeze. Although she was older now the hot-blooded latina still made her heart race. Santana smiled back pressing her lips to Brittany's hand.

"You made the right choice, San. We're moms and that means making the hard choices so that our kids can have the best life possible. They'll come around." Brittany cooed knowing how fragile Santana's heart was.

"I know they will. It just sucks. I feel like this is pay back for high school." Santana exhaled a shaky breath.

"Not even close. Come on, I'll clean up the table and you can scoop the ice cream. " Brittany stood picking up a few of the plates and setting them in the sink. "After Max is a sleep I'll give you a back rub, how does that sound?"

"Will it have a happy ending?" Santana smirked opening the freezer and shaking her butt a little for Brittany's benefit.

"Depends on if we get through this wine bottle tonight or not." the blue-eyed dancer teased back. "But I'm going to say the odds are definitely in your favor."

The idea of moving back to Lima was daunting. It's where their lives together had begun, where they fell in love, and where they had grown together as people. Santana could only sit and pray that her children could find the same guidance as she had growing up. Still, she worried about what had changed in the small town and even more about what had not changed. The thought that her kids might face the same old demons and bullies set her nerves on edge, but the memories she had of glee club soothed them again. Although she was scared, she knew with Brittany supporting her there wasn't anything they couldn't over come.

* * *

A/N-I've had an over whelming itch for Brittana family feels that I just couldn't help. As with most of my fics this will be a little angsty, but not too bad. I know most of you are dying for updates on Smooth and Until the Very End. I promise I've been working on them. It's just slow going right now. In the mean time I hope you liked this first chapter.

Ps. Glee ep 100 killed me with that kiss. Omg. *Fans self*


	2. Moving Day

"How much longer? It's hot and this sucks" Hope whinned in the back of Brittany's Ford SUV. "We've been in this stupid car all day, shouldn't we be there by now?"

Santana gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, but Brittany placed a calming hand on her thigh which allowed her to relax again. The drive to Ohio was an agonizing nine hours from New York City, meaning they were up before the sun in order to arrive on time. Long trips had always made Santana anxious, but being cramped up in a car with two whiny teens and a six-year-old who insisted on repeating the same four lines of a children's song for the last five hours, had her a little on edge.

"We're almost to our new house, so take a breath. We should get there around the same time as the moving truck, so everyone can get a good night sleep in their own bed." Brittany said loud enough for everyone to hear, except Remi who had his head phones in. She gave Santana's leg a small squeeze as they pulled off the freeway, finally navigating the local streets of Lima.

"Literally, the only thing I've seen for the last twenty minutes are farms and cow farms. I'm convinced you're going to kill us, hide our bodies, and go back to New York." Hopelyn grunted pressing her face into the glass of the window.

"You're going to killed us!" Max squeaked from his booster chair.

"No baby. Your sister is just being mean. Hopelyn enough." Santana snapped giving her daughter a warning look through her rear-view mirror.

"Oh San look! Breadstixx is still open." Brittany grinned suddenly very interested in the surroundings as they passed through the main street of Lima. "And the video store is still there too! Do you think they still have a copy of our home movie?"

Santana's face flushed. She certainly hoped they didn't.

"Mom, I'm hungry. Can we eat or something?" Remi asked pulling out his ear buds.

"We're about to be there. I'll make us lunch first thing, R.J." Brittany said as Santana pulled into a rather nice suburban community. The sign read_ "Lima Heights Estates"_. When searching for a new home the women wanted something new that they could make their own, while also not being too far away from Santana's parent's house. Heights Adjacent, like most things in Lima, was only a few miles away up the road.

"Hey they have a park, B!" Santana pointed out as she drove by a large playground where a few families were enjoying their Sunday afternoon.

"Ooo we should go have a look after lunch and stretch are legs. What do you guys think?"

"Sure."

"Whatever."

"I wanna play at the park. Mr. Red Patches is getting grumpy."

Brittany beamed at Santana as they finally pulled up to their new suburban home.

The house was large to say the least. Housing was far less expensive in Ohio the it was in the big city meaning Santana's lawyer paycheck went twice as far. The two-story home had a front yard was over sized and grassy, complete with three car garage and gated swimming pool in the back yard. Out front the movers sat waiting for them to open up the house.

"Whoa, this place is tight!" Remi said unclasping his seat-belt before reaching over to unbuckle Max as well.

The Pierce family climbed out of the car, relieved to be able to stretch finally. It was four in the afternoon and the sun was still high. Santana opened the door for their very first look inside, while Brittany grabbed the ice chest full of food from the trunk of the car.

"Remi can you help your mom. Thanks baby." Santana said ushering Max and Hope through the door. The grumpy young blonde wore the first small smile Santana had seen in six months as she gazed around the over sized house. "I've already picked who's in what room, so there's no fighting."

Santana motioned for them both to follow while Remi and Brittany carried the ice chest into the kitchen.

"Mom, can I go look too?" Remi asked impatiently not wanting to be stuck with the task of loading the fridge. Brittany nodded, taking out what she needed for sandwiches. The built boy darted up the stairs two at a time to join his siblings.

After a quick tour , room assignments, and lunch, Brittany rounded everyone up for their trip to the park.

It took only five minutes for them to walk down the street and around the corner to the community park where plenty of families were hanging out. An ice cream truck sat off to the side selling to a line of people. Hopelyn waisted no time marching off to sulk on the swings, while Remi took Max by the hand to an open patch of grass and tried to teach him how to catch.

"I'll go get us some ice cream. I think we deserve it. Love you." Santana said giving Brittany a peck on the cheek.

"Love you too." Brittany walked over to a near by bench and had a seat watching her kids play in the park. There was something about being back home in Lima that felt right and comfortable. Although her kids seemed to be dead set against the idea, she could tell it would grow on them. The tall blonde couldn't help, but sigh in contentment at the scene unfolding before her.

"Is that one yours?" asked a woman wearing far too much pink and a Rachel hair cut. Brittany glanced to where she was pointing.

"You mean the pouty teen who looks a little like a young Avril Levigne, bad eyeliner and all? Yea, she's mine. That's Hopelyn. " Brittany said offering the woman a place to sit next to her.

"Well she seems like a very pretty girl. I'm Mary Davis, you must be the new family that just moved in down the road from us." Mary held out her hand for Brittany to shake. "That's my daughter Jessica over there."

The woman pointed to a tall girl who had to be about Remi's age playing ring-a-round-the-rosie with a group of kids a little younger than Max.

"She's beautiful. Yup, that's me, Brittany Pierce. You already spotted my daughter on the swings. My two boys are over there trying to play catch." She pointed over to Max who waved at her only to miss the ball that Remi had tossed.

Mary looked confused, but Brittany wasn't surprised. Both Max and Remi had come from Santana, so their skin was almost as tan as her's. They had also inherited her striking good looks and deep dark eyes. Remi stood a few inches taller than Brittany with broad shoulders and biceps to spare. His hair laid flat down his neck with the sides shaved short. Max on the other hand was small and scrawny with messy black hair that never seemed to sit nicely on his head. Without knowing the truth, it was hard to tell they were related to Brittany at all.

"Adoption?" Mary asked jumping to the first logical conclusion she could find. Brittany plight laughed and shook her head.

"No, they're all mine." Brittany said secretively. She wasn't keen on having such a personal talk with someone she had just met.

" Ah, I would have never guessed. They're very handsome though. Say, you and your husband should come to Group tonight and meet everyone." Mary said in an overly cheery voice that Brittany found disturbingly pleasant.

"What's Group? It's not like a secrete housewife cult is it? I've seen The Stepford Wives and I don't think I'm ready for that." Brittany joked a little more sarcastically then necessary. She already got a bad feeling and it was already growing worse.

"Oh no, sweetie nothing like that. It's bible study and our home owners association meeting all rolled into one. We meet ever Sunday night at seven for cocktails and snacks, our local pastor comes to do bible study with us, and then we talk about things like night patrol schedules. Don't worry we make plenty of time for fun." Mary said with a playful wink. Somehow Brittany didn't think they shared the same ideas of what 'fun' meant.

"That sounds great. My wife was raised catholic though, so I'll have to talk to her about it first, but we might swing by for a bit." Brittany smiled again waiting to see if the pious woman's head would explode.

Mary paused for a second and then gave a small giggle.

"I'm sorry. This is going to sound so silly. I thought for a second you said your 'wife' "

" You heard correctly. She's over there waiting in line to buy ice cream." Brittany pointed to Santana who was waiting not so patiently in line. She could practically hear the woman uttering Spanish death threats under her breath, which made Brittany grin with love. "We just moved back here from New York to be closer to her parents."

Brittany's cool blue eyes traveled back to Mary's light green, sure enough there was an internal struggle beginning to form.

"...I wasn't aware that Ohio allowed same-sex marriage..." the words seemed to struggle passed her lips.

"They don't, but we were married in New York and Ohio recognizes out-of-state marriages, so it wasn't a huge problem for us. I'm just happy none of that non-sense effected our kids. I think it's so important for them to grow up in an environment that embraces equality." Brittany said innocently, trying to pretend she didn't notice the way Mary's lips were pursed tightly.

"Hey baby" Santana interrupted handing an ice cream cone to her wife, the large rock on her finger reflected off the sunglasses she wore and shot right into Mary Davis's eye.

"Mary, this is my wife Santana Pierce. Santana, this is Mary Davis. She invited us to the home owners meeting tonight to get to know everyone." Brittany said putting her arm around Santana's waste as she took a seat.

"Nice to meet you." Santana extended her hand only to receive a short half shake.

"Nice to meet you to Mrs. Pierce. I'm sorry I have to run, Jessica has piano lessons to get to." The nosy woman stood and marched off calling for her daughter to follow.

"What was that all about?" Santana asked taking a lick of her ice cream.

"She wanted me to join her cult of undead housewives, up until she figured out I'm a lady lover." Brittany smiled and leaned over to steal a peck from Santana's ice cream filled lips. "Mmm, you taste like strawberries."

"I think you as my housewife, sounds kinda hot. We should roleplay that sometime." Santana teased giving Brittany a quick kiss back.

"Well we do have a huge house that needs to be broken in..." Brittany said playfully licking her own ice cream while giving her eyes that she knew would drive her crazy.

"Mrs. Pierce are you coming on to me, because if so I approve. Nice thing about living in Lima again...my parents live up the road. They'd die to babysit their grand-babies, which means I can spend more time adoring you the way I vowed" Santana purred into Brittany's ear.

"Well lets at least wait until we get home to start the foreplay or else we might start a full-scale riot and I'd like to have a good first day. Something also tells me we were uninvited to the home owners meeting." Brittany said putting her arm around Santana's shoulders and drew her in close to rest against her.

"So what." Santana shrugged. " We over came Lima's bullshit when we were kids and we're going to do it again." Santana hummed proudly as she watched her children play.

* * *

Later that night, when the moving boxes were emptied and everyone's things had been sorted, Santana laid in Max's bed singing him a song until his eyes began to lull asleep. When her youngest had finally drifted off to sleep she carefully set him down and pulled the covers over him with a small kiss good night. She had made a lot of bad choices and done a lot of horrible things, but when she watched her children sleep she felt assured that they were the single best thing she had ever done, besides marring Brittany of course.

Double checking the closet was closed and his night-light was on Santana slipped out of his room and shut the door. She took a moment to peak into both Hopelyn and Remi's room to find them sound asleep. With a yawn Santana walked back across the hall to her new giant master bedroom, with fire-place included and pushed the door open.

"Are all the kids asleep?" Brittany asked from their walk in closet as Santana dug through her clothes for pjs.

"Mhmm." Santana yawned again, tugging off her top and kicking her pants to the floor.

"Perfect." Brittany said in a low voice as she closed the door. Santana didn't look up until she heard the lock click.

"Britt?" She asked through a grin that was forming as Brittany walked toward her in sweat pants and a loose sports bra. Her abs were on display just the way Santana liked.

"Didn't I tell you earlier I wanted to have a good first day in our new house." Brittany smirked wrapping her arms around Santana's neck kissing her playfully. Santana kissed back more hungry and awake then before. Her fingers trailed down Brittany's sides and abs only to cup between Brittany's legs over her shorts.

"Oh baby..." Santana whimpered when her finger grabbed the thick plastic shaft of Brittany's strap-on cock. She licked her pulling Brittany's hips closer so she could feel the hard-on against her thighs. "You're so bad Britt."

Brittany's grin grew as she expertly stripped Santana out of her panties and bra. She kissed her way down the smaller woman's necks as Santana pulled her sweats to the floor. Kicking them aside Brittany stepped closer pushing Santana up against the dark wooden foot of the bed.

"I'm going to fuck you right here against the bed, love," Brittany husked in Santana's ear lifting up her tan right leg and wrapping it around her waist for better access. The fingers of her left hand began stroking through the her wife's wet fold, priming her for what was to come. Brittany licked and bit along Santana's collar-bone, stopping for a few moments to suck at her hard nipples.

"God Brittany, I need you so bad." Santana leaned her head back and let Brittany work her magic. She took special care to kiss a few of the left over stretch marks that marred Santana's sides, knowing how sensitive the latina was about them at times. However, to Brittany they were some of the sexiest parts of the woman. They were left over reminders of how Santana had mothered two of their children.

"You ready for me, San" Brittany grinned wickedly biting at Santana's lower lip practically making her beg.

"Fuck...yes baby. I need you." Santana moaned as Brittany slid the thick dildo into her. Brittany kept her first few thrusts slow letting Santana get comfortable, before finding a nice riding pace that worked for both of them.

"You're so sexy. God I love you."Brittany groaned watching Santana's expression while she tried to grind herself against the toy. She leaned in placing kisses along her sternum.

_Thump. Thump._

Brittany paused her thrusting for a moment.

"Did you hear that, San?" She asked looking around their bedroom.

"No...ugh Brittany, please." She whined putting her hand on Brittany's shoulder for her to to continue. Brittany started moving again, only to stop when she heard the sound again.

_Thump. Thump._

"Mommy?"

"San-"

"Fuck baby, ignore him... He'll go back to sleep." Santana growled with Brittany's strap-on still buried between her legs. She gave a sharp buck causing Brittany to whimper from the clit insert.

_Thump. Thump._

"Mommy!" Max sniveled outside their bedroom door.

"San, he's crying. I can't just leave him out there."

"I'm going cry if you leave me here." Santana warned.

"I know, but I'm his mom, San. He needs me." Brittany pouted.

"Brittany, don't you dare! I'm his mom too and I say he can wait ten minutes." Santana gritted her teeth as Brittany shot her an apologetic look before pulling out.

"I'll make it up to you, I swear." She whispered pecking Santana on the lips.

"You've got to be kidding me. Brittany! Get back here." Santana hissed as the blonde pulled off the strap-on and tossed it in the closet.

"Coming baby, one second." Brittany called to the little boy who sat crying outside their door. Once her panties were on Santana knew there was no winning. Bitterly she snatched up a towel from a folded pile as her wife opened their door and picked a crying Max up off the floor.

"Baby, what's the matter? Why are you crying?" Brittany cooed cradling him in her arms carefully.

"I'm—I'm—I'm scared. It's new and weird I don't –don't like it in there" Max cried hot tears.

"Shhh it's okay baby boy, you can come sleep mommy, okay? San where are you going?" Brittany asked looking up at her pained wife.

"I'm going to go finish what you started in the shower—a very cold shower." Santana grumbled and shut the door to their bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later Santana emerged to find not only Max, but Remi also curled up next to Brittany in their king sized bed. As frustrated as she was, she couldn't help taking a quick picture before throwing on some pjs. Just as she was getting comfortable there was a knock on her door.

"Mami, can I sleep in here with you guys?" Hope whispered loudly. Santana gave a soft sigh.

"Of course, baby. Come here." She said opening up her blankets for her daughter to climb in next to her. Quietly Hopelyn put her arm around Santana's waist and rested her head on her mother's chest, like she use to when she was a little girl. Although it wasn't how she had hoped the night would end, she couldn't help feeling content with the way things had turned out. She kissed both Remi and Hopelyn's head before drifting of to a peaceful sleep.

* * *

A/N- So as you've m probably guessed this fic it rated M for smutty reasons, but also because of angst. I've labeled this hurt/comfort because it fits the work the best, but if you've read my other work you know I love some angst. I just want to give you all a heads up. _**This story will contain a lot of Homophobia and ignorant remarks from the people of Lima.**_ The Pierce family will face a good deal of discrimination and everyone will also have their own struggles to handle. Some of it could be triggering to people so if you'd like more info on that please feel free to message me on tumblr. That being said there wont be any 'hard triggers' like self harm or abuse.

This will probably be the only happy/fluffy chapter. There will be fluffy moments, but not whole chapters at least until the end. If you have any questions please feel free to message me. Other then that I hope you enjoy this Fic.


	3. First day of School

Santana woke to Max kicking her in the side as he wiggled in his sleep. Both Hopelyn and Remi had also sprawled out in ways that made going back to sleep impossible. Of course Brittany slept like an angel unbothered by the whole thing. Uncomfortable and grumpy Santana dragged herself out from under the pile of miss-matched limbs and got up.

The clock read five thirty in the morning causing Santana to groan loudly. There was still a dull ache pulsing between Santana's thighs left by Brittany the night before. Max could have waited five minutes, but instead her wife had left her high and dry. Worse, she had said "he's my baby." Max was Santana's son just as much as he was Brittany's, just because she wanted to get off first didn't mean she loved the little boy any less.

Santana knew her grumpy internal rant was more from being horny and sleepy, then anything else, but that didn't mean her feelings weren't still hurt. Grabbing a smutty romance book, she made her way down into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee before sitting at the island and reading.

An hour and a half later Max and Remi trudged down stairs rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

"Morning." She mumbled engrossed in a particularly steamy scene between the devilishly good-looking knight and a virgin princess.

"M'ning." The boys grumbled back half awake

"Mommy, said you were making us breakfast." Max whined.

"Hmm? No, I was reading, but I'll make you something. What do you want?"

"Can we have waffles with strawberries, Ma?" Remi asked taking a seat next to Santana.

Santana saved her place and took a sip of her second cup of coffee, before digging through the fridge to start breakfast.

"Where's Hope?" Santana asked as she chopped up the strawberries for their breakfast.

"She's still sleeping in your bed. Mom's already told her to get up twice. She said if Hope's not up by the time she gets out of the shower she's going to instagram her baby pictures for all her friends in New York to see, with the phone she's already had taken away." Remi snickered.

Santana smirked Brittany would actually do it too. To be a modern parent you had to keep up with the times. She put the frozen waffles into the toaster, waited for them to pop up, before buttering them and put two more in. She sprinkled a little powered sugar and the strawberries on top.

"Go sit at the table. The point of moving to Lima was to be more of a family. Families eat at the table." Santana swatted at the two, who climbed off the stools and headed toward the dinning room. She made a large stake knowing Remi would eat half of them himself. Thankfully Max was still small so he didn't need to eat nearly as much as his brother.

She set the plates down for them and went to grab her book and coffee before taking a seat next to Max. She resumed her book as they ate. Several minutes later they heard the water from the shower click off and as if on cue, the dull pounding of Hopelyn running down the stairs so not to be caught.

"Morning!" She said out of breath. Her blonde hair sat a ratted mess on her head.

"Mhmm, there's more waffles in the toaster. The rest is on the counter." Santana muttered as she remained focused on her book. Hopelyn dashed off to the kitchen to fix her plate before returning and taking a seat across from Santana.

"What are you reading?" She asked noisily lifting the back of Santana's book to read the title. "It that a trashy romance novel?" she laughed.

"It's none of your business. Eat your breakfast." Santana snapped pointing at the plate in front of her daughter.

Hope's eyes lit up, smelling gossip in the air.

"Are you and mom fighting? You only read those when she's making you sleep on the couch-" she hissed, giddy with the drama of it all.

"What—that's not true." Santana protested looking up from the book with her mouth hanging a little open. It always amazed her just how much her kids actually picked up on between her and Brittany.

"What's not true?" Brittany asked entering the kitchen dressed for the day. Her golden hair hung wet around her shoulders.

"That you and mami are fighting, which was why she was down here reading one of those trashy books you hate so much." Hope grinned taking a big bite of her waffles, while Santana glared at her. Traitor.

Brittany walked behind her wife and plucked the book from her hand to read the title before giving it back. She leaned in to give her a good morning peck and walked off to make breakfast for herself.

"Why would we be fighting and I don't hate them, I just-erm prefer the real thing." Remi and Hope both cringed and made a face, but it was Brittany's tone that spoke volumes to Santana. She knew Santana was upset with her and it was true she hated when Santana read romance novels, but there was no reason for their kids to know about the small petty things that didn't really matter.

"I am a twenty-nine year old woman. If I want to read a romance book or two that's my business, not yours. When you're twenty-nine you can read what ever you want too." Santana groused, not liking the way she had been called out in front of everyone.

Brittany returned and plucked Santana's coffee from her other hand, knowing she probably had way too much already and replaced it with a cup of tea.

"Baby, you're forty-three and you don't look a day over thirty-one." Brittany said kissing Santana's cheek as her wife glared around at her, which turned into Santana checking out Brittany's butt.

"Is that suppose to make me feel better?-Which brings me to another point I wanted to make." Santana turned back to face her kids. "Tonight everyone sleeps in their own bed, no but's about it."

"But. But. But..I don't like it..." Max whined.

"Max, don't start. You're a big boy. You have Mr. Red Patches, Teddy, and a night-lite. Mommy and I will make sure that there's nothing under your bed, along with all the other bed time things, but you're sleeping in your own room." Santana warned the little boy.

Max folded his arms and pouted, but it did him little good.

"Mami and Mommy just don't want you in there because they don't want you to know they're asking the stork for a new baby, because you're defective." Hopelyn hissed into her brothers ear.

"HOPELYN! Why would you say that?" Santana scolded. "Go upstairs and get dressed. You're done eating and say sorry to your brother."

"...Sorry..." She sneered with an unapologetic smile as she got up from the table.

"Max—baby don't listen to her. She's just being mean." Santana said giving the little boy a kiss. "Remi, take your brother upstairs with you and make sure he gets dressed. I'll be up in a minute."

The kids reluctantly did as they were told and trudged off. Santana took a sip of her coffee only to realize it was no longer coffee. She sighed and drank the more mild liquid without fuss before Brittany returned with her own breakfast.

"So I'm guessing you're still upset about last night." she asked taking a seat right next to Santana. "Want to talk about it?"

Santana closed her tiered eyes for a moment.

"It's not the sex part that bothered me, sure that part made me mad at the time, but it's what you said. You made it sound like I don't care or that I was being selfish for wanting to finish what we were doing first. Our kids are smart. Max knows he can get his way with a few crocodile tears. I don't mind the kids in our bed every once in a while, but last night I really wanted to just curl up next to you and cuddle until we fell asleep. Instead I wake up at five to Max kicking me in the ribs and the other two leaving no room. I had to get up. Plus I'm still horny from last night so I grabbed a book." Santana concluded her explanation by stealing a bite of Brittany's toast.

"San you know I didn't mean it that way. Maybe I should be a stricter parent, but Max is just so—special. He's our last baby and I feel like before we know it, he'll be in high school. I just want him to say my little baby forever. Hearing him cry, just gets to me. I know you're right and I'm sorry about last night, I just couldn't help it." Brittany spoke softly pushing her eggs around her plate.

"I get it Britt, I feel the same way about him too. If we were a few years younger, I'd say lets have another. Max is very special, he's going to grow up to be a genius like his mommy, but he can't stay a baby forever no matter how much we wish it." Santana took Brittany's hand and gave it a small squeeze.

Brittany brought their hands to her lips and placed a small sweet kiss on each of Santana's knuckles. It never ceased to amaze her just how much Santana got her. She always had the smartest things to say, which made Brittany's heart dance.

"I know. How about I take Remi and Hope to McKinley and you take Max to Jefferson. Since we both don't start work till later this week I'll arrange a nice romantic lunch date for us, if you don't mind stopping at the grocery store on your way back home." Brittany let go of Santana's hand and ran her nails along Santana's knee making the older woman smile and roll her eyes.

"It's not fair for you to use my weaknesses against me. You know them all." Santana fought back a wide smile. Brittany laughed and leaned forward catching her wife's lips in her own. Upstairs there was a loud bang and the sound of kids yelling at one another. 'So much for a quiet moment' Santana thought privately.

"You better go take care of that. I'll get dressed." She said softly still savoring the taste of Brittany on her lips.

* * *

**Remi**

Remi James Pierce was a tall handsome boy with dark thick hair that always stayed perfectly styled. His chest was broad and his arms were strongly built from years of working out for football. He was the Santana's first child and it seemed that he had inherited nearly all of her charm and features. However often he'd be reminded that his personality and his raw talent for athletics came from Brittany. At school he had always been the good-guy golden boy. The kid who played sports, got good grades, and had all the girls dying for a date. Yet it wasn't until he turned sixteen that he had actually began to really notice girls and realize he was truly Santana's son.

Remi loved girls. He loved them a lot. Everything about the way the looked, walked, talked, and dressed caught his attention. As far as standards went, he really didn't have any. At his old school he had dated at least half the girls in his grade and then some, gaining the reputation as a bit of a player.

There wasn't a whole lot Remi could complain about when it came to his life that is until his Mami lost her shit ,thanks to his punk ass sister, and moved them to the middle of no where.

"Alright listen you guys," His mom said from the front seat of her car "This is a new school for you, filled with new people. I want you both to really try to make this work. If you don't want to do it for yourselves then keep in mind I know over half the teachers in this place as well as the principal. If you put one toe out of line, I will know and there will be trouble."

Brittany wasn't as good of a disciplinarian as Santana was, she didn't have the same boiling anger inside her the way Santana did. She didn't yell very often, but on the off-chance she did get truly angry, it was terrifying.

Hopelyn rolled her eyes and exited the car.

"R.J. Please keep and eye on her ." Brittany asked a little softer.

Remi leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek, knowing it would make her happy.

"Sure thing, mom." He grinned before getting out of the car.

He waved, watching her drive away, before putting his game face on. First rule to entering a new school, make sure everyone knows you're the shit.

"Hope! Wait for me." He jogged to catch up with his little sister. "Alright, so I know you're not use to this, but I've switched schools before. Just stay close and we'll be popular before lunch."

"Who says I want to be brainless and popular oaf like you." Hopelyn growled. "I've got to go I'm going to be late for home room. Try not to embarrass me to much." with another roll of her eyes she stormed off down a narrow hallways.

Remi watched her go not knowing what to do. Being hot and popular always worked for him and it could work for her too, but he wasn't about to push is little sister into being someone she wasn't. That being said he wasn't about to let her drag him down ether.

He pulled his schedule out of his pocket and found his locker, before heading to class. The room wasn't too hard to find. It was your typical Spanish classroom decorated with posters of Mexico, verbs, and various hispanic clothing which were mildly offensive.

"Good morning everyone, how was your weekend?" A chipper looking man strolled into the classroom with his teachers bag and poorly styled curly hair. His eyes seemed tiered but the kind of tiered you didn't mind so much. He positive energy filled the room. His light eyes fell on Remi with a look of delight. "It seems we have a new student. What's your name and where are you from?"

"I'm Remi James Pierce, most of my friends just call me Remi or R.J. And I'm from New York." He fought the urge to sink down in his seat and hide as everyone looked at him. Instead he put on a cocky charming grin for them to see.

"Pierce...You wouldn't happen to be related to Santana and Brittany Pierce would you?" The teacher asked seeming even more excited than before.

"Uh...yea. They're my moms."

"Wait, did you just say 'moms'? As in you have two?" Someone in the back of the room asked.

"Yea, they're lesbians. What of it?" Remi challenged turning around to look at the boy who spoke. The kid was about three heads shorter than Remi with no muscle what so ever. He posed no threat and backed down the moment he saw the size of Remi's arms.

"I knew your parents when they went to school here. Santana was a handful and Brittany was-something else, but they turned out to be wonderful people. I had no idea they moved back to Lima. I'm happy to hear it. It's good to have you. Tell them that Mr. Shue says hi alright?"

"Will do sir." Remi said turning back to the front with a proud smile.

* * *

**Max**

Max stood by Santana clutching her leg tight and hiding his face in her pants as she spoke to the first grade teacher outside. His mom ran her fingers lightly through his untamed hair as she spoke.

"-He's just being shy, I wanted to speak to you in private before class started. Max is a little special. We noticed he's been having a little trouble with his reading and he gets frustrated about it when everyone around him is understanding something he isn't. We're working on it with him at home, but if you could just keep in mind that he needs a bit more patients than most that would be wonderful. It's something his mom really struggled with when she was growing up and we don't want him to fall behind the way that she did." Santana said softly to the older woman.

Max didn't like the look of his new soon to be teacher. She looked old and mean. He could tell by the wrinkles around her eyes. They weren't smile wrinkles like the kind his abuelo had, they were mean angry wrinkles like a dinosaur or some other scary monster. She didn't seem nice and friendly like Miss. Reagan had.

"Oh one more thing, Max has a—uh-special invisible friend named Mr. Red Patches. My wife and I had decided to indulge him in this. We're from a more creative background and we'd like for Max to feel as though he can use his imagination safely. We know he'll eventually grow out of it. So if he's in the corner playing by himself it usually helps to just encourage him to play with the other kids and bring his friend along with him."

Max tugged on Santana's pants wanting her attention. Without hesitating she excused herself and sank down to his level to speak with him.

"Yes, baby?" She said softly holding his tiny frame in her hands.

"I don't want to go, she looks like a witch and she's going to eat me." Max whimpered hugging Santana so tight her heart turned to mush. It had always been hardest for Santana to let her children leave the nest. She was always the one to turn into a ball of tears as they walked off.

"Shhh, I know baby. She does seem pretty evil to me too, but your mommy and I put magic in your breakfast this morning. It's witch repellent. It'll keep her from eating you. All you have to worry about today is going to class, having fun, and making new friends. She's not going to hurt you. I promise and if she does mommy and I will pull you right out of her stomach like in little red riding hood okay?" Max's mami gave him an extra big squeeze and kissed his face all over.

"Ahem" coughed the evil witch teacher. Santana stood up and guided Max through the door.

"I'll come to pick you up the second class is over baby." Santana said nudging him inside the room. He could see a tear or two in her eye.

"No, mami! I don't want you to go!" Max began to sniffle and chase after her as she left, but the dino-witch blocked his way.

"Max, go take your seat." She said in a stern voice.

"Max, take your seat." She repeated when he didn't listen right away.

Tentatively he turned and looked around at the other kids who were staring at him.

"Can anyone show Max to his seat?"

"I can!" yelled a tall red-headed girl near the window. She raised her hand as high in the air as she could.

"Amanda." The teacher called on her. The girl stood and bound her way over to Max, which made him want to hide. He was never very good at meeting new people and there were a lot of new people.

"Hi Max, I'm Amanda. Your desk is going to be right next to mine." She held out her hand for him to take. Her smile seemed nice enough, but Max turned to ask Mr. Patches. When the cat nodded, he took her hand and was lead over to the empty desk across from the pretty red-headed girl.

"Alright, today we're going to start the day off with numbers. Who can tell me what comes after one hundred and thirty-four?"

Max swallowed and closed his eyes trying to picture what 'one hundred and thirty four' would look like. Instead his head filled with rows and row of bunnies. It was a common problem that always left him angry and confused.

"Jack?"

"One hundred and thirty-five."

"Very good."

"What comes after five hundred and twelve? Max."

"Uh..." Max could feel his own little heart start to race. He looked to Mr. Patches, but he didn't know and everyone was watching him again. All he could think of was bunnies, lots and lots of bunnies, so he guessed. "Um …..ten."

The classroom erupted with laughter, except for Amanda who gave him a sad smile. Max wanted to run away and hide under the covers of his Spiderman bed sheets. Instead he simply hung his head and stared at his desk. The teacher didn't call on him much after that. Only to remind him to pay attention when Mr. Red Patches was distracting him from listening.

At break the teacher, Mrs. Calvin dismissed everyone to go out side and play. Max wasn't really in the mood, but he followed behind the other students out onto the playground. He took a seat on the wall and gave his kitten friend a good scratch behind the ears.

"Maybe when we get home Mommy will let us have some ice cream because today isn't a very good day." He whispered to the invisible cat.

"Who are you talking to?"

Max looked up to see Amanda staring down at him. Afraid to say something that might get him laughed at, Max just shrugged. The little girl adjusted her dress and took a seat in front of him with a smile.

"I'm not going to make fun of you if you tell me." She said softly.

"It's just my cat. His name is Mr. Red Patches, but you can just call him Patches. He's not very friendly though, which is why he wont let other people see him." Max said as though it were the moth obvious thing in the world. Amanda nodded along.

"I had a friend like that once. She was a duck though. One day she flew away and never came back. I don't remember her name, but I know she's somewhere helping another kid make friends." She smiled and Max felt embarrassed.

"Th-thank you for not making fun of me today. The teacher kinda looks like a scary dinosaur witch and sometimes when I try to say answers my head fills up with bunnies and I can't remember very well."

"You're cute." Amanda giggled. Most little boys would have probably pushed her and insisted that she take back such an offensive comment, but Max had never been raised to fear girls or crushes. After all he saw his moms swoon over each other every day.

"Th-thank you. I like your hair." Max said with a shy smile.

"Hey new kid! Catch!" Jack Davis who had answered almost all the teachers questions correctly in class tossed a big red cherry ball in their direction, which caused Amanda and Max to duck. The red ball slammed hard against the wall where Max's head had been and bounced back. The group of boys who had played with the ball laughed and returned to their game, however Jack had other plans.

He marched over to where Max and Amanda sat talking and grabbed the girl's hand.

"Why are you even talking to him, he's weird. My mom said his mom aren't natural. They don't even go to church. You should come play with us." He tugged at the girl's arm.

"No. Go away. We're having fun." Amanda insisted yanking her arm back from the mean boy.

"He's not even smart. You saw him in class talking to his imaginary friend. I bet he doesn't even know what two plus two is." Jack sneered folding his arms.

At this Max stood up.

"I do so know what two plus two is and Patches is real. You're just mean. Go away!" He yelled giving the boy a shove. Angered by this Jack pushed Max back hard, knocking him to the ground. Hot tear burned in Max's eyes, but he wasn't going to give up. His big brother taught him better than to just let people push you around.

"You guys stop it!" Amanda yelled.

Max shot up from the ground and tackled the other little boy, biting and hitting until Jack was the one crying. It didn't take long for Mrs. Calvin to rush over and pull Max off the sobbing boy.

"Max William Pierce this is unacceptable behavior. You're going right to the principles office and calling home. Now march!"

* * *

**Hopelyn**

Hopelyn slumped down in the back of the classroom pulling her hoody up over her head, hoping everyone would just pretend they didn't see her. It was easier to get along unnoticed. She pulled out her note-book and began drawing since she didn't have anything else to keep her entertained. As she doodled more students began to file into the room. She could see them out of the corner of her eye, but chose not to speak. She could feel their eyes watching her and hear them whispering. It was nothing new to the young angry blonde. At her old school the kids would whisper and talk about her behind her back too, why she thought Lima would be different was a mystery.

"I know you." Said a voice Hopelyn didn't recognize. Glancing up she noticed a tall girl with light brown hair and delicate make-up was staring down at her in a floral print dress. She sat with her ankles crossed on top of a nearby desk with a smug little smirk. "You're the girl from the swing set the other day. Your parents are the lesbians who moved in down the street right?"

Hopelyn scoffed and chose not to answer. While New York had been very progressive there had been the off moments when bigoted people tried to give their two cents about their little modern family, Hopelyn had found it easiest not to say anything. They generally went away after a while. However, when the girl hopped off the desk and sat right in front of her, Hope realized it wasn't going to be that easy.

"What's the matter? Do you not know how to speak? Aren't you like—adopted or something? That must be strange, being taken in off the streets by a gay family. Do you even remember your real parents? Did they like—beat you or something?" The girl asked leaning in curiously. One flick of her eyes and Hopelyn saw the rest of the class leaning in waiting for answers to the questions they all most certainly had.

"Were you dropped on your head as a baby-or something" Hopelyn mocked. "Because that's the only reason I can think of for someone to ask such stupid questions. Of course I know how to speak, I just don't want to speak to you. No, I'm not adopted. There's this magic thing called science, you can actually use in-vitro to make babies now, go figure. Tell me, what's it like to be uneducated? I'm dying to know." She said with a sarcastic glare.

The class began to chuckle at her witty attitude, but the girl in front of her didn't seem nearly amused. Instead she brushed the wrinkles from her skirt and waited for the room to grow quiet.

"Well aren't you the cleaver one. I bet that worked for you at whatever rock you crawled out from under, but I can see right through your alternative grunge rocker make up, to what's really going on."

"I don't know what you mean." Hopelyn shot back as she began to feel uneasy.

"I'd think it would be obvious. You're clearly a dyke, just like your dyke parents. I mean your mom likes girls and your brothers like girls...Aren't gays always going on about how it's not a choice. You're just born that way, right?" the girl sneered.

Hopelyn's mouth hung open as she tried to wrap her head around the pure ignorance she was facing. Had it been her old school she might have grabbed the girl's hair or smacked her in the face, but she had promised her moms that she would do better. If she got into a fight on the first day of class there would be no end to the hell she would receive. Besides, it wasn't like they ever listened long enough to let her explain anyway.

Just as she had formed a proper argument the teacher strolled in and began first period. The girl who answered to the name of Jessica Davis moved to the front of class, where she sat gloating.

The rest of the morning trudged along with little trouble, however by the time lunch came around half the school was talking about the Pierce siblings. Thanks to Jessica and her shit, most everyone assumed that she was a lesbian just like her moms, while Remi was living the high life as promised.

Hope looked around the cafeteria for someplace quiet to sit, when she spotted her older brother sitting at a table full of jocks in their Letterman's jackets. Swallowing her pride she walked over and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hope, what's up—what are you doing over here?" He asked eying her suspiciously. They weren't exactly close when it came to being brother and sister, but she didn't have many other options.

"Can I talk to you for a second alone?" She whispered not wanting to be over heard.

"Uh, can it wait? I'm talking to the guys about the football team. It's kind of important." Remi asked sympathetically.

"Ugh, forget it." Hopelyn huffed turning on her heel and storming off with her lunch tray still in her hands. 'Remi was one of them anyway, what would he understand?' she thought to herself. Frustrated and upset Hopelyn had lunch in the girls locker room where no one would bother her.

McKinley was turning out to be just like Saint Mathew's all over again, only with stupid country bumpkins as the bullies.

Angrily Hopelyn threw her tray against the wall a buried her face in her hands. Why was it so hard to fit in?

* * *

Santana kicked the door closed with her foot as she struggled to bring in all the groceries on Brittany's list all at once.

"Babe, home!" she called

Brittany jogged down the hall to help.

"Woah! Britt-" Santana gawked at Brittany, sliding her sun glasses to the top of her head to have a better look. The fit middle-aged blonde wore a black bikini top and a pair of shorty shorts. Brittany blushed and grabbed several of the bags. "I thought we were doing a romantic lunch not a hot trip to the beach, not that I'm complaining."

"We are. I thought we could do a nice everything salad, open a bottle of campaign, and make use of our new jacuzzi in the back yard. I've already got it all heated up. We just need the salad." Brittany grinned, which made Santana feel fuzzy all over. Setting the bags down in the kitchen she walked over to the woman and wrapped her arms around her neck.

"That sounds perfect." She smiled closing her eyes and pressing her lips to Brittany's.

"Mmm...go get changed before I decide to have you for lunch instead." She gave Santana's ass a small smack as she dashed off upstairs to change.

When Santana returned the campaign was poured and the salad bowl was ready.

"So how did it go with Max this morning?" Brittany asked as they ate.

"It went alright. He was scared of his new teacher, which I think was fair. She's a bitch. I'm not sure her class is right for him, but we'll see. He started crying when I left." She pouted at Brittany.

"Oh, that must have been hard. You always hate the first day of school."Brittany sympathized.

They talked a while longer as they finished up their lunch. Brittany poured a second round in their glasses as she kicked off her shorts. Santana was already soaking in a nice little spot with the jets running when Brittany stepped in and swam over passing her the next glass. Taking a sip and then setting it a side, Santana brought Brittany in to her body wanting to kiss her beautiful wife senseless.

Brittany straddled her lap and rested her head on Santana's shoulder, just enjoying the feeling of the bubbling water surrounding them and having her be so close.

"How were Remi and Hope?" Santana asked running her fingers lightly up and down Brittany's spine. For a second she thought she saw something flicker over by the far fence, but soon became distracted by her wife's gentle touch.

"Lets not talk about the kids right now." She whispered, cupping Santana's cheek and sensually kissed her. Santana gasped a little, but kissed back with matching passion. She held tight to the blonde's hips as the jets bubbled around them as they made out. Brittany's hands slipped between them and found their way to Santana's breasts as she trailed steamy kisses along the Latina's neck.

"Britt.." Santana murmured breathlessly. Although it wasn't as frequent as it use to be, sex between them was still as hot as ever.

She opened her eyes for a second, only to catch a flicker of something again.

"Britt." She said again this time more seriously. "I think there's someone watching us over by the fence."

"So let them watch. It's kinda hot." Brittany smirked taking Santana's ear between her teeth.

"What? No. Britt, make them go away. I don't want to be the sexual fantasy of all our repressed male neighbors." Santana whined. With a loud sigh Brittany pulled back and hopped out of the tub and marched over to the eight foot fence.

"Hey, who ever you are if you want to come over and join us you're more than welcome. The door is unlocked." Brittany shouted. They could hear someone practically trip over themselves as they ran back inside their house. Brittany waited for a moment before walking back over to the hot tub.

Just as she was about to step in the house phone ran. Santana groaned and sank down into the jacuzzi in frustration as Brittany went inside to answer. Several moments later she returned with a strange look on her face.

"Britt, what's the matter? Is everything okay?" Santana asked sitting up in the tub.

"Max is being sent home for fighting. Apparently he hit another little boy and bit him." Brittany said with a suddenly exhausted tone.

"What? You're kidding! Max has never done anything remotely violent before. Are they sure it was the right kid?" Santana asked climbing out of the tub.

"Oh I'm sure. I just spoke to him on the phone and he said he did it. On the good side he at least sounds sorry. They want us to come pick him up, though." Brittany said passing Santana a towel.

"Christ...alright. Sexy time is going to have to wait until later tonight." Santana mumbled switching off the hot tub and locking the gate.

"We'll have some alone time soon, baby. Just you and me, promise." Brittany said pecking Santana's cheek as they made their way upstairs to their bedroom to change.

"I just really hope Lima was a good choice."

* * *

A/n-Sorry for the long wait. My computer keeps crashing and deleting my work. I've also been working like crazy and I'm about to get a second job. I'm currently working on all my stories (including UTVE). Updates are just going to be slower then they were last year because I need to be a real adult for a change. Smooth update is almost done. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow or sometime this up-coming week. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think in the comments. Also this wont be a super long fic. Maybe 10 chapters total. Hope you're ready for more angst to come. Love -Grace.


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